eng Science and Education Publishing Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 2333-1240 2014-07-17 2 7 388 394 10.12691/jfnr-2-7-10 JFNR20142710 article Zhimin Zhang 1 Lianhua Liu 2 Congxin Xie 2 Dapeng Li 2 Jun Xu 3 Meng Zhang 4 Min Zhang zhm7875@mail.hzau.edu.cn 4 College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agricultural University, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan, P. R. China Key Laboratory of Pesticide and Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, P. R. China Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology of China, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, P. R. China Jiangxi Academy of Environmental Sciences, Nanchang, P. R. China Owing to the favorable effects of essential fatty acids on human health, a great degree of interest on fatty acid profiles and nutritional quality of fish species have been of interest in the recent years. The present study investigated the lipid content, fatty acid profiles and nutritional quality in nine freshwater fish species from the Ganjiang River in the Yangtze basin, China. Results showed that total lipid content of the dorsal muscle was 0.59-2.2% and that was inversely linked to moisture content (r2 = 0.79, p < 0.01). Wide ranges of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (21.83 to 50.53%) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (19.43 to 45.60%) were found. The ratios of n-3 to n-6 PUFA ranged from 0.25 to 1.16 (p < 0.001). N-3 PUFA was dominated by eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids varying from 2.77 to 15.11% of total fatty acids. Indices of atherogenicity and thrombogenicity (IA and IT) based on fatty acid compositions ranged from 0.36 to 0.52 and 0.36 to 0.64 in all species, respectively (p < 0.001). These results indicated fatty acid profiles were different among the fish species and the potential of these species as dietary source of essential fatty acids from the nutritional standpoint. http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/2/7/10/jfnr-2-7-10.pdf lipids polyunsaturated fatty acids fish nutritional quality Ganjiang River